OneDrive's Request files creates a link that lets anyone upload into a folder you own without signing in, and without seeing what is already in it. Uploaded files are automatically renamed with the sender's name.
How to request files in OneDrive
- 01Open OneDrive on the web and select — or create — the folder uploads should land in.
- 02Choose "Request files" from the toolbar or the folder's context menu.
- 03Describe what you are asking for. This text is what senders read, and it is the only instruction they get.
- 04Copy the link, or enter email addresses to have OneDrive send it for you.
On a work or school account the option can be missing entirely: an administrator has to allow anyone-with-the-link sharing before Request files appears. If you cannot find the command, that is almost always why, rather than anything about the folder you picked.
What the sender sees
An upload page with your description, a file picker, and a field for their name. They cannot browse the folder, see existing files, or view anyone else's uploads. Each file that arrives has the sender's name appended to its filename, which is OneDrive's way of attributing submissions — useful when several people upload the same generically named document, and awkward when you needed the original filename preserved.
The restrictions that catch people out
- The request link cannot be password protected, so anyone who receives a forward can upload.
- You cannot restrict senders to a specific email address or domain.
- There are no per-request limits on file size, file count, or file type beyond OneDrive's own account-level limits.
- Uploads consume your own OneDrive storage, which on a personal account is the tier you pay Microsoft for.
- The feature depends on link sharing being permitted, so on managed accounts it can disappear after a policy change you did not make.
Where it stops fitting
The same mismatch as any cross-platform collection: if your team works in Google Workspace, files arriving in OneDrive are in the wrong place. Every submission then needs a manual move, and you are effectively paying for Microsoft storage to run an inbox for a Google workflow. The renaming behaviour compounds it — files land with modified names, so the copy in Drive no longer matches whatever the sender referred to in their email.
The Google Drive alternative
Drive File Request keeps the parts that work — no account for senders, no visibility into your folder — and changes the destination to your own Google Drive, with the limits OneDrive does not offer.
| OneDrive request files | Drive File RequestNative | |
|---|---|---|
| Files land in | Your OneDrive | Your Google Drive |
| Sender needs an account | No | No |
| Senders see the folder's contents | No | No |
| Password-protected link | No | Yes |
| Restrict senders by email or domain | No | Yes |
| File size and count limits per link | No | Yes |
| Original filenames preserved | No — sender's name appended | Yes |
| Expiry date | No | Yes |